A gear which has teeth designed to engage with teeth of an associated gear sometimes overloads these teeth. Overloading is a problem where the driving gear has a hub which can be moved or deflected to load the teeth unevenly. Overloading is a problem where only a few of the teeth engage at any one time, as in a final drive of a track-type tractor, for example, where only a few of the teeth on the final drive gear engage teeth on the associated gear and must carry all of the load.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
According to the present invention, a joint is provided for a gear which has a hub and a peripheral toothed portion positioned about the hub for mating with an associated gear and rotating in a preselected plane. The joint connects the hub and toothed portion of the gear and has a construction sufficient for absorbing motion of the hub relative to the toothed portion.